Obsidian making Dungeon Siege III

[Humodour]

Where do I pre-order?

[WorstUsernameEver]

Where do I pre-order?

 

Lol.

At least someone is enthusiast about this.

[Amentep]

Let's not forget that DS3 will be a direct competitor to Diablo III...

Diablo 3 won't be on consoles.

Diablo 3 will be on Macs and will play on any PC from the last 7 years, so the platform shouldn't really be a problem.

 

DSIII has the console market to tap even if Diablo III dominates the PC/Mac market.

The markets have quite a bit of overlap, especially in the RPG section. I guess it could be another Sacred II for console-only section.

 

I'm sure they do. But the overlap is far in the console favor if PC sales are as weak as I've been led to believe.

 

Obsidian making Dungeon Siege 3 is like having a gourmet chef microwave you a hot pocket. Complete waste of time and talent.

 

But what if the gourmet chef took the idea of a "hot pocket" and made something new from scratch that used the basic ideas of a hot pocket?

At the end of the day, they'll still be microwaving it.

 

 

Great analogy, eh?

 

 

If they make it from scratch, they'd have to cook it to get the bread toasted, at the very least. (Even the microwave Hot Pockets are cooked prior to being sent out).

[Oner]

By 'generic' I mean 'it hasn't a strong personality'/'doesn't look unique'. Depending on how it's done, it's not necessarily bad, though of course, most of the time it is.

That was the look of Dungeon Siege I & II by the way, so they're keeping it in line with that.

DS 2 was quite beautiful when it wanted to be.

[Humodour]

Now I really need to find DSII somewhere. Is it even good?

 

Yes. The plot ain't too bad either. It IS still a dungeon crawl, but they added a bunch of new RPG elements to it (both in terms of story/dialogue and combat). DS2 is the type of game you'd play once, enjoy, be happy you played, then probably never play again. The plot isn't bad, but it IS linear.

[WorstUsernameEver]

By 'generic' I mean 'it hasn't a strong personality'/'doesn't look unique'. Depending on how it's done, it's not necessarily bad, though of course, most of the time it is.

That was the look of Dungeon Siege I & II by the way, so they're keeping it in line with that.

DS 2 was quite beautiful when it wanted to be.

 

Beauty has nothing to do with personality though. Those concept arts ARE beautiful.

[Amentep]

Now I really need to find DSII somewhere. Is it even good?

 

Yes. The plot ain't too bad either. It IS still a dungeon crawl, but they added a bunch of new RPG elements to it (both in terms of story/dialogue and combat). DS2 is the type of game you'd play once, enjoy, be happy you played, then probably never play again. The plot isn't bad, but it IS linear.

 

That's actually kind of what I thought about DS1, ie I enjoyed it once, but have never played it again.

 

But I did enjoy it once; DS2 seemed more of the same so I passed, but I'll be interested in seeing what this shakes out to be since it seems that it may be aiming to be a different kind of game.

[Humodour]

And Obsidian, can I just say that DS1 looked WAY better than DS2? Try and re-capture that vibe. It had such beautiful scenery and atmosphere. DS2 was still nice but more average-looking.

 

I'm sure somebody disagrees with me.

[Thorton_AP]

Since I hate that term, what do you mean by "generic?" You're using it as a pejorative and I'm curious why.

 

 

It's so overused it's become meaningless IMO (that and I think most people don't actually know what the term means, and simply use it to say "I don't really like what I see but I can't put my fingers on it).

 

By 'generic' I mean 'it hasn't a strong personality'/'doesn't look unique'. Depending on how it's done, it's not necessarily bad, though of course, most of the time it is.

That was the look of Dungeon Siege I & II by the way, so they're keeping it in line with that.

 

 

So what is an example of a Fantasy RPG that "has strong personality" and "looks unique?"

[Humodour]

Now I really need to find DSII somewhere. Is it even good?

 

Yes. The plot ain't too bad either. It IS still a dungeon crawl, but they added a bunch of new RPG elements to it (both in terms of story/dialogue and combat). DS2 is the type of game you'd play once, enjoy, be happy you played, then probably never play again. The plot isn't bad, but it IS linear.

 

That's actually kind of what I thought about DS1, ie I enjoyed it once, but have never played it again.

 

But I did enjoy it once; DS2 seemed more of the same so I passed, but I'll be interested in seeing what this shakes out to be since it seems that it may be aiming to be a different kind of game.

 

They made the DS2 combat and plot far less boring - I was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately they made the graphics worse. Some kind of karma thing I imagine. Grab it in a bargain bin if you see it - worth a play-through once even more than DS1 IMHO. I've already said this like 3 times in this thread, I know, I'm just excited about Obsid being thrown this IP.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Since I hate that term, what do you mean by "generic?" You're using it as a pejorative and I'm curious why.

 

 

It's so overused it's become meaningless IMO (that and I think most people don't actually know what the term means, and simply use it to say "I don't really like what I see but I can't put my fingers on it).

 

By 'generic' I mean 'it hasn't a strong personality'/'doesn't look unique'. Depending on how it's done, it's not necessarily bad, though of course, most of the time it is.

That was the look of Dungeon Siege I & II by the way, so they're keeping it in line with that.

 

 

So what is an example of a Fantasy RPG that "has strong personality" and "looks unique?"

 

Jade Empire, Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of Zehir had also a pretty strong art direction, same with The Witcher and Gothic.

But yeah, I think you nail it when you ask me about fantasy RPGs, because a lot of them have pretty much the same look just slightly varied. And, as I've already said, if done right, it invokes a sense of familiarity. Just think about Black Isle's canceled project 'Torn'. It's pretty much what Dragon Age would become.. first draw the players with familiarity, then put twists at every corner (well, not exactly every corner, but I think you understand just fine ).

[Oner]

By 'generic' I mean 'it hasn't a strong personality'/'doesn't look unique'. Depending on how it's done, it's not necessarily bad, though of course, most of the time it is.

That was the look of Dungeon Siege I & II by the way, so they're keeping it in line with that.

DS 2 was quite beautiful when it wanted to be.

 

Beauty has nothing to do with personality though. Those concept arts ARE beautiful.

Let me rephrase it then: It looked good enough to make you not give a damn whether it looked unique or not. .P

When it wanted to.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Let me rephrase it then: It looked good enough to make you not give a damn whether it looked unique or not. .P

When it wanted to.

 

True, except that I'm hyper-picky at this point of my life (I've actually always been a little.. it's just slowly escalating)

[Purkake]

IIRC DS1 was the first game where you could actually choose what your character looks like in a meaningful way, at least for me.

 

Too bad they didn't get a cool license like Arcanum or Anachronox.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Purkake

[Hassat Hunter]

By 'generic' I mean 'it hasn't a strong personality'/'doesn't look unique'. Depending on how it's done, it's not necessarily bad, though of course, most of the time it is.

That was the look of Dungeon Siege I & II by the way, so they're keeping it in line with that.

DS1 certainly had it's own distinct look. DS2 went more generic Tolkinesh though yes. So they should keep the art from DS1 (oh, and Hassat!).

 

DS1's map was huge, but yeah, not worth more than 1 play. Although it's MP was amazing with a map even bigger than that, and somewhat less linear even. Had lots of fun there until hackers ruined it. That was such a shame .

[Siamese Cat]

Is it wise to expect the same/similar gameplay with the previous games?

Dungeon Siege 3 features "intuitive action gameplay" with the series' familiar RPG elements.

IIRC, their gameplays were not something which can be described as "intuitive action gameplay". The name may be only there for marketing reason.

[Oner]

You didn't have to spend hours reading the rules to get the system, so yeah, I'd call those games intuitive.

[CoM_Solaufein]

Moved to the right forum, now that it has one.

[Amentep]

You didn't have to spend hours reading the rules to get the system, so yeah, I'd call those games intuitive.

 

I remember having a lot of problems with the controls in DS1 initially (after I got a party and giving party commands). But I might have just been inept.

[entrerix]

IF this has two player offline coop, then it's a day 1 buy for me most likely.

 

my fiance LOVES to play co-op baldurs gate dark alliance and borderlands, she'll be all over a decent diablo clone.

 

(though i do i plan on surprising her with a copy of diablo 3 on release, but I dont look forward to the conversation where i explain we will be sitting with our backs to each other in our den because we each need our own computer ...)

 

if this doesnt have offline co-op then it's going to have to be more than just another dungeon siege game, cause those are boring by yourself and i don't usually enjoy playing online co-op (except guild wars for some reason)

[funcroc]

Obsidian guys working on DSIII

Nelson Plumey (senior enivironment artist)

Justin Bell (sound designer)

Alvin Nelson (assistant producer)

[Gromnir]

IIRC DS1 was the first game where you could actually choose what your character looks like in a meaningful way, at least for me.

 

Too bad they didn't get a cool license like Arcanum or Anachronox.

 

arcanum didn't sell well enough to warrant such attentions... am not certain regarding anachronox.

 

...

 

am wondering what other moldering franchise will be meat and mead for obsidian. once bio were done with nwn and kotor, obsidian gots a chance to scavenge. were understandable at the time 'cause obsidian were a "new" developer, and an indie at that. get a chance for a new developer to work on two highly anticipated projects appeared to be a coup for fergie. now we gots a fallout game, which even though it is a castoff project o' bethesda, many o' the obsidian developers actually has put in time working on one or more fallout projects; fo:nv seemed to be a good fit for obsidian. 'course obsidian's aliens got canceled and ap has garnered less than stellar feedback. so now it is back to picking over the scraps o' bigger and more successful developers? has obsidian settled on such an unimaginative development model?

 

lawyer joke: what is the difference 'tween a catfish and a lawyer?

 

answer: one is a scum-sucking bottom-feeder, and the other is a fish.

 

perhaps lawyers and obsidian has more in common than we suspected. is it too late to change corporate name? perhaps Grave Robber Games would suit better than Obsidian Entertainment... or maybe Ebon Vulture/Onyx Condor.

 

maybe ds3 turns out to be the bestest crpg evar, but is difficult to be enthusiastic 'bout such a project. on the positive end o' the spectrum, now obsidian gots an excuse to gets burt reynolds to do vo. weren't burt in the cast o' the ds movie? have paul crewe/gator/lewis medlock do vo would be earning some kewl points.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Amentep]

I dunno Gromnir; is restarting a franchise necessarily a bad thing? Or is it simply because they're restarting a franchise that last had a game 4 years ago, as opposed to something like Wizardry (9 years)? Or would you be against making a game with any IP that wasn't original at this point?

[Gromnir]

Or would you be against making a game with any IP that wasn't original at this point?

 

we is particular opposed to the retread o' any game for which the original publisher/developer is still 'round and may have influence on the development process. 'course, as you say, we is also opposed to any non-original IP. is like developer equivalent o' fan-fic.. at best it is a bit gauche.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Alvin Nelson]

Fallout 3 was an remake, and look how well that did...